


How It Should Have Ended: The Non-Nonsensical Ending

by 1Syphira



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 22:31:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10580838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Syphira/pseuds/1Syphira
Summary: The ending we all wanted. A final boss battle. No pointless god-children. Uh, Harbinger! And, not to spoil anything, but: little blue asari babies! This is how I would have ended this amazingly epic story. An ending with lore continuity and things that make sense.





	1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Okay. So here it is. The ending I wanted this AMAZING game series deserved. This fanfiction starts basically where the final mission starts when you go to Cerberus' home base. From then on I change pretty much everything. So it, you know, makes sense. I have included a final boss battle that makes sense (and that we were DENIED), lore continuity, and this fanfic may or may not contain little blue asari babies at some point. XD This is but one ending, if you were a dedicated paragon, and if you got all the war assets and galactic readiness up to 100% like I did. I do suggest you take this fic with a grain of salt: I more or less just wanted to write this to get to Liara and Shep's happily ever after, which is in "A Gift for You, My Commander," the sequel to this fic. Some of you may think this is all just self-indulgent nonsense, but hey! That's what fanfictions are for!

**DISCLAIMER:** Too crazy to own it, too lazy to try. So don't sue!

**WARNINGS:** This is going to have some LiaraxFemshep lovey stuff because I am massively in love with that pairing. I'll put additional warnings at the beginning of chapters if you're not interested in the lovey dovey fluff (there's a shower scene at the end of this chap btw). XD That's totally okay. I won't let it detract from the ending. An ending that makes sense. With no stupid pointless A.I. Godchildren. And no C'thulu theories where everything you do doesn't matter. IT DOES MATTER THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF MASS EFFECT.

* * *

 

**Chapter 1**

"The crucible is never going to work, Anderson," Shepherd said darkly. The hologram of his face contorted in concern.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Think about it. Just as the Reapers make their return, an all-powerful weapon just _appears_? It's all too convenient if you ask me. The V.I. on Thessia told me this weapon has been improved upon over hundreds of cycles, every race adding something to it, trying to improve upon it. But that's just the problem. Hasn't anyone stopped to think maybe the damn Reapers have been monitoring its progress over the eons? Don't you think they would have come up with some kind of countermeasure? They've always been ten steps ahead of us, so why not now? They even knew about the Catalyst and stopped us from getting it on Thessia. So what the hell are we doing Anderson?"

"What are you saying, Shepard? That we should just give up?" he shot back, irritation obvious in his voice.

Shepard ran a hand through her red hair in a vain attempt to suppress her agitation. "I'm sorry. I am just so . . . tired. And with every victory we have, the Reapers manage to come up with three more ways to defeat us. I stop Saren, he kills himself. Then Sovereign resurrects him as some horrible nightmare creature. I kill Sovereign, then the collectors start abducting human colonists and liquefying them. I save the krogan and quarians only to have Thessia fall. Every _inch_ of progress I make, it's thrown right back in my face. I guess I'm just used to expecting the worst at this point."

"Have a little faith, Shepard," Anderson said with a deep sigh. "Hackett certainly seems to think it will work."

"He has enough optimism to power the crucible by himself. But wars are not won with optimism."

"No," Anderson agreed. "They're won with leaders like you. For what it's worth, if anyone can win this, it's you."

Shepard leaned forward on the console. His words didn't comfort her; they weighed more heavily on her than anything else he could have said. She felt like the whole universe was looking at her, waiting for her to save them all. Or, in the case of the Reapers, they were looking on while plotting her demise. Everything rested on her. What would she be? The savior of the known galaxy? Or the biggest failure of the cycle, and possibly of all time? According to Javik, no one person from his cycle had ever had as much responsibility as she. She rolled her shoulders and popped her neck. The best way to cope, she had found, was to block it from her mind.

"You have an uncanny knack for accomplishing the impossible, Shepard," Anderson continued. "Take comfort in that. I know I do."

"Thanks Anderson," she said and gave him a weak smile.

"Any time, Shepard. Now go kick the Illusive Man's ass for me, okay?"

"With pleasure," she said without a hint of humor in her voice. She meant it. She would take great pleasure in hurting the insane bastard. He had his indoctrinated head so far up his ass, he couldn't see the light of day. Anderson's hologram disappeared leaving her alone in the comm room. She took the few moments of silence to think.

It turned out to be a mistake. Her mind seemed determined to unpleasantly reminisce on the past. Sovereign, the geth, the Reapers, Saren . . . Oh how that turian tortured her nightmares. She replayed the last moments of his life in her mind every day since the attack on the Citadel over three years ago. Just when she thought she could help him, that she could turn things around for him, she saw him raise his gun. She saw him put it to his jaw. Then she watched him blow his own brain out in a vain attempt to rid himself of Sovereign's control. And even in the end he couldn't find respite. No absolution, only control. He was used like a tool then tossed away like garbage. It made her sick. All of it made her sick. The Reapers, Leviathan, the cycle, the Collectors, all of it. Why was this happening? How could it be happening? Why had someone created the Reapers all those eons ago for the soul purpose of wiping out all organic life in the universe? To what end? What was the goddamn point of it all?

She pushed herself off the console. There was no point in torturing herself with questions that had no logical answers. She could only move forward. And right now, she just wanted to go feed Twitchy (whose appetite could rival that of a krogan. Impressive considering he was a hamster), and lay down for a while. She needed to collect herself. She needed to save face for all the people looking to her for hope. She walked slowly through the Normandy. She had a horrible feeling this would be the last time she saw her beloved ship. There would be no more Cerberus to rebuild it after this mission, whether they succeeded or failed. There wouldn't be anyone left to rebuild anything. She took in all the familiar sounds, smells, and sights of the ship. When she reached the elevator, movement at the end of the hall caught her eye. Tali and Garrus were conversing softly, and he occasionally kissed her hand. A warm smile curved Shepard's lips. It was about damn time.

"Did you finally finish all those damn calibrations, Garrus?"

Garrus let out an embarrassed, but amused cough. "The Normandy's as calibrated as she's ever going to be."

"Don't stay up too late, kids. I hear we have to save the universe tomorrow. That might take a bit of energy. Not sure though. And remember. You have reach, Garrus, but Tali has flexibility."

Both of them coughed, even more embarrassed, and Shepard laughed. "Do me a favor. Survive this damn war because I plan to be your best man, Garrus. You don't have a say in this. I _will_ be your best man."

"There's no one I'd rather have at my side, Shepard. As long as I can be your best man, too."

"Deal," Shepard replied, her grin widening.

"Why does she get to be your best man?" Tali argued. "Why can't she be my maid of honor?"

"Well there used to be two of me, maybe we could bring my clone back?" Shepard joked.

"On second thought, maybe we'll just have to find a way to compromise," Tali said quickly.

Shaking her head in amusement, she stepped in the elevator and said, "Captain's Quarter's Edi. And hold my calls for the next few hours, yeah?"

"Of course, Shepard," Edi's voice replied over the intercom. "Are you all right Commander?"

"I'm all right. Just need some rest."

"Very well. Sleep well, Commander Shepard."

"Thanks."

The elevator came to a stop and she strode wearily to her cabin. Twitchy was squeaking away, demanding food as usual. Shepard dumped a handful in and softly stroked his head while he gorged his fat happy self. She envied the little monster. He didn't have to worry about Reapers or galactic extinction. His only concern was when his lazy owner was going to feed him next.

"Thank the goddess for Liara, little man, otherwise you probably would have died of starvation long ago," she said, smiling at the saying she'd picked up from her lover.

She turned on her shower and cranked the heat to near-scorching temperatures. Stripping her uniform, she left it in an uncharacteristic heap on the floor and let the hot water wash over her battered body. Hot water was just about the only thing that could relax her muscles these days. Just about. A certain asari came to mind . . .

As if on cue she heard her door hiss open. She groaned. Apparently Edi didn't know the meaning of "hold my calls." Without even bothering to grab a towel, she marched around the corner to glare down her would-be intruder.

"Obviously Edi didn't make it clear—oh," she stopped when Liara greeted her eyes.

Liara took one look at Shepard and blushed furiously.

"Commander!" she squeaked in the most adorably indignant voice Shepard had ever heard. It reminded Shepard of the first time they'd melded. When she had asked Liara if she'd like to go for round two after their first love-making session, Liara had replied with the same, very adorable, "Commander!"

"What? I told Edi to hold my calls. I thought you were someone I don't want to see."

Liara was still averting her eyes with a soft blush resting on her lovely cheeks. "I can leave –."

"No," Shepard interrupted. "Stay. Please. Just let me finish my shower. I don't think I've had time for one in about four days."

"Okay," Liara said and fidgeted with her fingers.

Shepard returned to the hot water and leaned heavily against the wall. She winced when her body weight pressed up against her shoulder. It had never fully healed and it seemed to always be bothering her at the most inconvenient times. Like in the middle of battles. She tried in vain to massage it away but with little success. After about a minute of this, she heard the sound of clothes hitting the floor and felt Liara's body press against her back. Soft lips kissed her shoulder and blue arms found their way around Shepard's waist.

"Is your shoulder still bothering you?" Liara asked, continuing to lay soft kisses on it.

"Yeah," Shepard replied. She felt a little out of breath. They made love so infrequently that whenever they did anything even remotely intimate, she was helpless to Liara's touch.

"Shepard . . ." Liara whispered.

Hearing her name spoken in such an intimate moment pulled Shepard out of her spiral. She turned to look into the asari's eyes and placed the tips of her fingers over Liara's blue lips.

"No," she said. "Not Shepard. Not Commander."

Liara kissed her fingertips. "Okay." Then she leaned forward and whispered her first name in her ear.

Electricity shot up and down Shepard's spine. Liara said her name so rarely that when she did it drove her wild. She pushed the asari against the wall lacing their fingers above the other's head. Her self-control was hanging by a thread.

"Liara," Shepard breathed. "Please . . ."

"Goddess," Liara whispered. Her eyes were already turning black, which didn't add to Shepard's lack of self-control. She pressed her lips against Liara's perhaps more forcefully than she had intended, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. In that moment, all that existed was an undeniable need. She felt Liara's thoughts trickle into her own, and a wave of love washed over Shepard. Goddess, how that asari loved her. It was almost overwhelming. She only hoped Liara knew how much she loved her in return.

_'I'd do anything for you, Liara. I'd die for you, lie for you, anything,'_ she sent the thought to her lover.

To her surprise, Liara pulled back, and her eyes returned to their normal blue. Concern rippled through Shepard's violet eyes.

"Shepard . . ." Liara hesitated. Shepard wasn't sure if it was the water from the shower, or if those were tears in her lover's eyes.

"Hey," Shepard said, gently tipping the asari's chin up. "What is it?"

"Don't die for me," Liara said after another moment's hesitation. " _Live_ for me. Survive this, or I'll never forgive you, Goddess help me."

Shepard rested her forehead against Liara's and sighed heavily. "I want to live, Liara. I want to so much. All I want is to run away from all of this, to spend the rest of my life on some beach far away from here. I want to hear the sound of little blue asari babies running around the house, raising hell when I wake up in the morning. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms every night. I want to meld with you any time I want, damnit, not right before we're on a mission to our almost certain doom."

She heard a soft sob escape Liara's blue lips. "Damn you," she said, tightening her grip on Shepard's arms. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Hey," Shepard pulled back and sapphire eyes met violet. "I will always come for you. You hear? _Always._ Have I ever made a promise I didn't keep?"

Liara answered with a desperate, forceful kiss. Shepard found their positions reversed as Liara pushed her up against the cool metal wall. Their kiss deepened and Liara's arms tightened around Shepard's waist in embrace fraught with need. Shepard surrendered to her partner-the only person in the galaxy to whom she would ever surrender. She couldn't help it. She was defenseless, helpless in Liara's arms. She felt the asari's mind reach out to her once again and opened her thoughts without hesitation.

_'Give yourself to me, Shepard,'_ Liara silently demanded and Shepard acquiesced. She acquiesced for the rest of the night until all thought of war, the Reapers, and the problems of the universe melted away to a dull gloom in the back of her mind. In this moment, it was enough. In this moment, all that existed was her and Liara. And that had always been enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Shepard stood over Kai Lang's broken body, her pistol at the ready. He was positively seething with hatred in his eyes at his defeat, though he could do nothing about it. He'd probably been shot at least a dozen times during the fight. That and Liara had slammed him around the room several times, and Edi had overloaded his shields so many times he had massive electrical burns. He coughed up blood between gritted teeth.

"Still think you're fighting on the right side, Lang?" Shepard asked.

"Fuck you, Shepard!" he snarled.

"Look at yourself!" Shepard spat. "What are you fighting for? Do you even know? You can't _control_ Reapers! That's a one way street and you're going the wrong damn way!"

She saw him activating his Omni-tool blade. He was trying to hide it, but he was failing miserably. She popped the thermal-clip out of her pistol. "Don't do it."

"We both know there's only one way this can end, Shepard. I'll never stop."

"Damn it, I'm giving you a chance to live!"

"Kill me!" he shouted. Then he slumped back down, making him look strangely piteous. "Just kill me, damnit."

Shepard wasn't sure why she felt pity for the man. Possibly because the whole situation was reminding her too much of Saren. She lowered her gun.

"No. I'm through doing what the Reapers want. I'm done with you." She turned from him and to the computer terminal. She had seen it so often, the Illusive Man sitting arrogantly in front of it, preaching his bullshit. She began a download of the data on the terminal when a familiar, nightmarish voice filled the air.

" _Assuming control_."

Kai Lang let out a horrible, gut-wrenching scream. His eyes and mouth began glowing an unnatural yellow, and he threw his head back in agony. Shepard, Edi, and Liara all reflexively raised their guns.

"Harbinger," Shepard spat the creature's name. "I was wondering when you'd show up again."

The creature turned its horrible eyes on her, disregarding everyone else in the room. When it spoke, the very floor beneath their feet shook. "Nicole Shepard. Commander/Specter status. Thirty-two revolutions of the planet designated Earth. Pitiful."

"Yeah fuck you too," she replied and tightened her grip on her gun.

"I have existed for more eons than your diminutive brain can comprehend. I have witnessed the birth and death of countless lifeforms. Civilizations a thousand times greater than your own have risen and fallen before me. You are nothing."

"Yeah? Then why bother talking to me? Why were you so interested in stopping me from destroying the Collector base? If I am so pitiful, then surely I couldn't stop the Great and Powerful Harbinger. Let's talk, you and me. Face to face. None of this 'assuming control' bullshit. Let's duke it out like civilized creatures."

"You are nothing. You know nothing. We are Harbinger. You cannot stop us. We will continue the cycle. This is how it has always been and it is how it will always be. We bring order to a chaotic universe."

"Bullshit!" Shepard shouted. Her patience was hanging by a thread. A very thin thread.

"Your Earth will be the first to fall," Harbinger continued. "My creations will ensure order in the galaxy."

"Your creations? You created the Reapers?"

"We _are_ the Reapers."

"So you're going to Earth?" Shepard asked.

"We will oversee the final invasion fleet personally."

"Very forthcoming with answers," Liara observed.

"Aren't all super-villains?" Shepard said sardonically. "So the final battle for the galaxy is to take place on Earth?" she continued. "Okay. See you there."

Without another word she put a well-earned bullet in between Lang's dead eyes. He had obviously already died of fatigue from the possession, but it was just such a satisfying way to sever the link.

"So this is it," Shepard said, holstering her gun. "Harbinger is headed to Earth. I say we meet him there and end this once and for all. You two in?"

"Of course, Commander Shepard," Edi replied.

"Until death," Liara said and strode to Shepard's side. She linked arms with Shepard and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Joker, we're ready for pickup," she said into the comm. "Let's get the hell off this station. I've had enough of Cerberus to last about ten thousand lifetimes."

"Aye, aye Commander," Joker's replied.

* * *

"Wrex, we're headed to Earth. Want to come with me to kick some serious Harbinger ass?" Shepard said with a small grin. She was looking at his hologram in the comm room and he was looking his usual badass self. A tad worn out, perhaps, from all the enthusiastic krogan females, but all in all, he looked to be in good health.

"Not sure how the human expression goes . . ." he replied. He placed a giant finger to his chin in contemplation. Then, "Fuck yes?"

Shepard grinned. "Yeah that's the one."

"Oh good. Then FUCK YES!"

"Good. Need a pickup?"

"Your A.I. got me transport. Meet you on Earth in two days."

"Can't wait," Shepard said.

He rewarded her with a chuckle only a krogan could provide.

"Oh, and Wrex. Bring Grunt. I'm still his Battlemaster, and I want to see his adorable ass in battle next to me. And make sure you tell him I called him adorable."

Wrex chucked again. "Will do, Shepard."

His hologram vanished from the screen. She took a deep breath and centered herself, then called up her next contact.

A minute or so later, Jack's hologram appeared. "You sure do talk a lot, Shepard. Haven't I told you I hated our fucking chats in engineering?"

"I got another suicide mission lined up. You in?" She decided to cut to the chase, given Jack's history with small-talk.

Jack surprised her by laughing. "You're such a crazy Fuck. Count me in. When and where?"

"Earth. Two days. The coordinates have already been sent to your Omni-tool. Remember that asshole Harbinger from the Collector base? Yeah we're going to kill him."

"Oh yeah, I remember that sonofabitch. Can't wait to meet him. And smear his annoying voice all over the galaxy."

"Same old Jack," Shepard said with a smirk.

"Fuck you too," Jack said, but she couldn't hide her smile as her hologram vanished.

Shepard leaned forward on the comm. She hated making these calls. She hated knowing she was asking people to come with her to their most certain death. But what choice did she have? She needed the best on her team. The best in the whole fucking universe. She shook her head. One step at a time. Next call. The next face appeared in the hologram.

"Shepard. It is good to see you," Samara said. Then a ripple of concern passed through her eyes. "You do not look well."

"Samara. It's good to see you too. You said I could call you if I ever needed anything. Well right now I need the best fighters in the galaxy. You available?"

"My word is my bond, Shepard. What do you need?"

"I'm going to take down Harbinger. Earth. Two days. Can you meet us there, or do you need a pickup?"

"I believe I can make it. It would be my honor to fight next to you once again, Commander."

"Thanks, Samara."

Samara gave her a respectful nod, then her hologram disappeared. Shepard struggled inwardly over whether or not to call Miranda and Jacob. Jacob had a kid on the way and Miranda had a sister. They had a shot at a life after all this hell was over. Assuming they survived at all. Shepard popped her neck. The galaxy needed guys like Jacob to survive this war. He was where he needed to be. But she knew she needed Miranda on this, that was undeniable. She made the call.

"Shepard," Miranda's hologram greeted her a few minutes later.

"Miranda. How's your sister? Doing okay after all that nasty business with your father?"

"She's fine. She's smart and tough like me. I think she hates that I underestimate her. I'm trying to get better about that."

"So . . . no loose ends laying around anywhere?" Shepard teased.

"Very funny."

"Sorry."

"I assume if you're asking about loose ends, this must mean we have another suicide mission lined up?"

Shepard heaved a sigh. "Yeah."

Miranda laughed, though it was laced with bitterness. "I'm flattered you called. When and where?"

"You sure?"

"I owe you more than I can ever repay. So hell yes."

"Earth. Two days."

"Can't wait. And Shepard?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For everything."

Miranda's hologram disappeared. It left Shepard with a strange sense of foreboding. Was she doing the right thing? Was it right for her to call in favors by asking people to walk off a damn cliff with her? Was it wrong demanding this kind of loyalty from people? Was it wrong using them like this?

"There's that look again." Shepard recognized Liara's unmistakable voice without looking up.

Shepard closed her eyes and hung her head. "What look?"

"That look riddled with guilt. Questioning your right to ask people for help."

"I don't ask, that's just it. I demand. Every one of them knows they can't say no. I've bound them to me by gaining their unwavering loyalty. They'd follow me into the gates of hell without hesitation. Why?"

She felt Liara's hand softly touch her back.

"Because you're the one who is going to win this war. Everyone here believes in you. No one more than I," Liara said.

Shepard raised her head to look into her lover's beautiful sapphire eyes. "I'd ask 'why me' if that expression didn't piss me off so much. If not me, then who? I just hope this all pays out. I'm not asking for a million-credit cash-prize at the end. I'd settle for little blue babies. At least two. I want twins."

Liara rewarded Shepard with an adorable giggle.

"I'm serious," Shepard insisted.

Liara averted her eyes and a soft blush filled her cheeks. "I know."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** As promised, I'd give you fair warning about any LiaraxFemshep scenes. The last part of this chap contains a love scene.

**Chapter 3**

"Assemble the fleet. Let's finish this," Shepard said to Admiral Hackett's hologram. Then she turned to Anderson's hologram. "Think you can hold out for two more days?"

"Absolutely!" Anderson answered without hesitation.

"Good. Give them hell for me until then. Oh and Anderson?"

He paused before turning off the communicator.

"Can you see if you can scan for any Reapers giving off unusual readings? Maybe a bigger ship like Sovereign's or one with higher energy readings?"

"Of course. What am I looking for?" he asked.

Shepard paused for a moment. She knew he wouldn't like the answer. "Harbinger."

"Harbinger? The Reaper controlling the Collectors in the Omega Relay?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, you think it's on Earth?"

"Yeah."

Anderson narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her face. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I'll tell you after this is all over. You can kill me then."

Anderson's eyes widened in concern, but she saw his trust in her win over his doubt. "Okay Shepard. But I expect full disclosure when this mess is over. Deal?"

"Deal," she said, nodding to her two superiors. They both nodded then their holograms faded from the comm.

She turned to see Tali standing in the entrance of the comm room. "The Migrant Fleet is ready, Shepard."

"Thanks, Tali. For everything."

"Shepard, you cleared my name of treason, spared my father a horrible shame, and you united my people with the geth after three hundred years of war. You have nothing for which to thank me. I should be thanking you every day for the rest of my life."

Shepard rubbed her neck in embarrassment. "All in a day's work. Don't worry about it."

"Relax, Shepard. I didn't come to embarrass you by gushing over your considerable pile of accomplishments," Tali teased.

Shepard coughed. "Oh?"

"Remember what I said back before our suicide mission to the Collector base? I said you were the only person I trust to link suits with?"

"Well hopefully that's changed to me and Garrus," Shepard deflected.

"Shepard, I'm serious. This may be my last chance to ever properly thank you and do this."

"Wait, you . . . you're asking . . .?"

"I would be honored if you would link with me, Shepard," Tali said. Her voice was uncharacteristically calm. The last time they had this conversation, Tali about exploded from embarrassment.

"Tali," Shepard said and placed a hand on the other's arm. "I'm honored beyond words, but the last thing I want is for you to get sick on the eve of battle. Tell you what. When this is all over, we'll link. That's a promise. I'll put it on the very top of my to-do list."

Tali hesitated. Shepard could practically hear the gears turning in her brain. She smiled and relieved the tension by giving Tali a warm hug.

"Okay, Shepard," Tali agreed. "But if you don't keep your promise, I'll kill you. And if you die, I'll have Cerberus rebuild you just so I can kill you again."

Shepard laughed and put her hands up disarmingly. "Okay, okay."

"And I don't care what Garrus says, you're going to be my maid of honor."

"How about I just stand next to both of you? I'm Commander Shepard! I'm so awesome I can be a man and a woman and be in two places at once! Wait, that didn't come out right . . ."

Tali laughed. Then her voice took on a more serious tone. "I'm sorry about Legion."

Shepard bit her lower lip to stop a sudden flood of emotion. The last thing she wanted to do was break down in front of her crew. "He died giving free will to his people. It was a good death."

"Shepard," Tali gently scolded.

"I know, I know. Well we have two days to catch up on sleep, so I'll be in my quarters. Maybe I'll actually get a full night's rest."

"Shall I distract Liara for you?" Tali teased.

Shepard coughed. "No comment."

* * *

A deep, penetrating darkness surrounded Shepard. She was vaguely aware that she was dreaming, but reality seemed so far away it hardly existed at all. She could hear whispering, but it, too, seemed far out of reach. She was trying to run, to find some kind of anchor, but she wasn't moving.

"You are small," a voice said, reverberating around her. She knew that voice. "You are fragile. And yet you come. You know you cannot defeat me. So why come at all?"

"I won't stop until I'm dead!" she shouted into the darkness.

Liara suddenly appeared in front of her, speaking in the same horrid voice of Harbinger. "You cannot save her. I will destroy her in front of you. This will unravel you. You are small. You are weak. You have built your entire basis of strength around a single asari. Foolish."

"Don't touch her!" Shepard screamed into the darkness.

"This hurts you," it said.

Liara's skin suddenly burst into flames and she threw her head, her face contorted with pain. She let out a terrible scream, a sound that tore through Shepard, threatening to break her.

"Liara!" Shepard screamed. She tried in vain to reach for her but she could not move.

"You are weak. And I will destroy you. I will destroy all of you."

Shepard bolted upright in bed, waking herself up with another, "Liara!"

She blinked back the light of the fish tank, disoriented and distraught.

"Shepard?" Liara asked groggily from next to her in the bed.

Shepard exhaled upon realizing she'd been holding her breath. She buried her face in her hands. She didn't want Liara to see her like this. Her eyes were wet. Goddess, she was crying. _Shit, Shepard. You can't cry in front of Liara. Pull yourself together!_ she mentally scolded herself.

"Bad dream?" Liara asked, kissing her shoulder.

Shepard cleared her throat. "Yeah."

"Talk to me. Please don't shut me out."

"I've lost people, Liara. Thane, Legion, Mordin . . ." Her voice broke when she said Mordin's name. Of all the deaths she'd had to accept of late, his plagued her the most. "Harbinger . . . he . . . He's trying to get to me through you. Goddess, Liara, he _killed_ you right in front of me."

"Shepard," Liara whispered. "It was just a dream. I'm here. I'm right here."

Shepard clenched her fists in frustration. "You'd think after a few million years of doing the same stupid thing again and again and again Harbinger would get tired of it all and leave us damn organics alone."

"Open your mind to me," Liara demanded suddenly.

Shepard was slightly taken aback, but she did without question. To her surprise Liara's skin began giving off the iridescent glow of a meld. Shepard almost put a stop to it since her mood had been killed by her nightmare, but she could immediately tell something was different about the meld. Liara cocooned Shepard's mind with her own and the room around them faded away.

"Liara . . ." Shepard gasped as blue arms made their way around her, encompassing her, cradling her. Her head fell back on Liara's shoulder. She felt weak. Nothing about the experience was negative, just overwhelming and the most beautiful thing she'd ever experienced during the meld. It took on a new dimension of intimacy as Liara's thoughts passed through every centimeter of Shepard's mind. It felt like their very souls were writhing as one.

_'Embrace Eternity, Shepard,'_ Liara sent gently through the meld.

_'What are you doing?'_ Shepard managed to ask amidst the sea of pleasure and emotion.

_'Giving you a reason to come back to me,'_ Liara's words filled her mind. ' _Giving you a reason to live, my Commander."_

Shepard softly cried out into the night, swept away by the current of tenderness. All of her burdens, all of her worries, concerns, and all the weight she carried passed between them. For the first time since the war started, Shepard felt . . . _lighter._ She had always been careful not to share too much with Liara during their melds because she never wanted to burden Liara. She had always managed to shield Liara from the weight she carried. But this time was different. This time her guard was completely down. She poured everything into Liara and Liara, in turn, gave everything. Tears spilled from Shepard's eyes, unbidden, and they burned like fire. Tears of relief, tears of pain, or tears of pleasure, she didn't know. The lines between herself, her emotions, and Liara were so blurred, Shepard scarcely knew where she began and Liara ended.

It didn't take long for inevitability to climb its way through Shepard's core, though Liara wasn't touching her there.

_'Come for me, my Commander,'_ the thought filled Shepard's head. An uncontrolled groan escaped Shepard's lips as her body obeyed Liara's sweet command. Every part of her, to the core of her being was completely encompassed in Liara's love. She felt unraveled, exposed. It was the most beautiful gift Liara could have given her.

The two of them toppled back on the bed, their bodies as entangled as their minds. For as fit as she was, Shepard still found herself out of breath and stars danced across her vision. They lay in silence for quite some time as Shepard struggled to collect herself. Liara sprinkled soft kisses on Shepard's chin and cheeks, pausing occasionally to lightly kiss her lips.

"Your DNA is quite fascinating," Liara remarked after a time. Her sapphire eyes pierced Shepard's with a suggestive twinkle.

"Glad to know you still think I'm fascinating," Shepard replied with a cheeky grin.

Liara gave her a significant _Look_. Shepard blinked. No. No way.

"Wait . . . did you . . . did we . . .?" she stuttered. Her brain was still only functioning at half-capacity.

Liara's playful grin widened.

"No . . . you're messing with me. Wait, really?"

Liara nodded then planted a very enthusiastic kiss on Shepard's lips. Shepard felt excitement climbing its way through her for the first time since . . . well since she could remember.

"You're . . . we're . . . I just got you . . . we're going to have a . . . _baby_?!" she finally managed to ask.

Liara giggled. "Well look at that. I finally made the Great and Powerful Commander Shepard speechless. If I'd have known it was that easy, I would have done this years ago."

Shepard threw her arms around her lover with a joyous laugh. For a moment she forgot about the war, the Reapers, her troubles, her worries, everything. For one beautiful moment, she wasn't Commander Shepard, savior of the Citadel, Specter, and would-be savior of the galaxy. In that moment she was simply Shepard: lover, future mother, and the happiest human in the entire damn galaxy. If only for a moment, she was truly happy.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So, remember how in Dragon Age, the troops you ran around collecting through the entire game appear in the end and have a damn purpose in the final battle? Yeah, I think I'll include that. Because, you know, I spent like 40 hours getting the galactic readiness to 100 fucking percent. GRRRR.

**Chapter 4**

Shepard looked out the view port of the Normandy, watching as the fleet she'd amassed dropped out of FTL. The Migrant Fleet dominated the armada, but Shepard didn't miss all the small additions she'd spent months slaving over. The geth, the turians, the hannar, the elcor the volus, a few Batarians, the krogan, the salarians, the Eclipse, the Blue Suns, and the Blood Pack had all shown up for the fight. And a hell of a fight it was going to be. It all came down to this. The point of no return and no surrender.

"Commander," Joker said from the pilot seat in front of her. "Anderson's on the line."

"Patch him through."

"Shepard, I think we've found what you were looking for," Anderson's voice came over the comm. "We found a Reaper ship that is giving off energy readings similar to that of Sovereign. I'm sending you the location now."

"Commander, Admiral Hackett is on the line," Joker said.

"Admiral, is the Crucible ready?" Shepard asked.

"Ready and on its way, Commander," Hackett replied. "We still need the Catalyst, though. Did you figure out what it is?"

"I have a pretty damn good idea. I've assembled a team to extract it."

"Good. What do you need us to do?" Hackett asked.

"I need you to buy me time. As much time as you possibly can. Joker, open all comm channels."

"Aye, aye Commander," he said. His fingers flew over some buttons. "Ready."

"Earth Fleet, this is Commander Shepard," she said. "This is it. Our final run, our last stand. We have arrived at the gates of hell, and we've come a long way to get here. I know we've all had some differences over the centuries, but I think we can all agree on one thing: _we want to live_. And there's no other way I'd have this go down than having an united galaxy to put an end to the Reapers. So let's give the Reapers hell! Who's with me?"

A resounding shout from every last ship in the fleet came over the intercom. Shepard couldn't help but smile. With a single shout, all her hard work had paid off. All the months of running around the damn galaxy, political ass-kissing, and uniting a galaxy determined to thwart her at every goddamn turn, had all finally paid off. Here they all stood, together, at the end of all things.

"I want this line kept open at all times," Shepard continued. "Keep communication tight, show no mercy for you will receive none, never back down, never surrender, and give them hell!"

Shepard slipped her N7 helmet over head. "Edi, stay here with Joker. He's going to need you in this fight. And I'm going to need the two best pilots in the galaxy working together to get me through _that_ ," she nodded toward the reaper fleet looming closer and closer by the second.

"Very well, Commander Shepard," she replied in her smooth voice. "And Commander?"

"Yeah?"

"It has been an honor to work with you."

"Thanks, Edi. You too."

She made her way back to the command center where her team awaited. It was quite a team that greeted her. How many times had she fought along side these people and nearly died along side them? She saw no fear in their eyes. Only determination and an unwavering faith in the woman about to lead them into battle.

"Well look who it is," Wrex said, his voice dripping his usual, genial sarcasm. "The craziest person in the whole damn galaxy."

Grunt added to the statement with his signature, "Heh heh heh."

"Glad to see you've survived all those girls on Tuchanka," Shepard retorted. The rest of the team chuckled, even the always dour Samara and Miranda.

"Hey," Wrex barked, "I bet you couldn't survive a platoon of fertile female krogan. They may not kiss as well as certain _asari_ , but they sure as hell make up for it in stamina."

"Don't be too sure, Wrex," Liara said from next to Shepard.

Shepard stared in disbelief at Liara. In all three years of knowing Liara, she had never heard her so openly insinuate something about their love life. Not to say she was disappointed or embarrassed, just surprised.

"Well I'll be damned, Shepard," Garrus said. "You've finally done the impossible and broke T'Soni out of her cold blue shell. How'd you do it? Not that I should be surprised, mind you. You do seem to have a knack for accomplishing the impossible."

Shepard opened her mouth to say "no comment," but Liara beat her to the punch. "With a whole lot of stamina tests."

"Who are you and what have you done with T'Soni?" Ashley asked incredulously. "Are you the same asari who was afraid to sleep with Shepard all those years ago?"

"You _told_ her about that?" Liara turned on Shepard.

"I . . . _may_ have vented a little sexual frustration, but I didn't say anything bad about you! I just _mentioned_ how much I wanted to peel you out of that sexy little outfit you used to wear."

"So I hear there's a Reaper invasion outside?" Tali said, adding an embarrassed cough.

"What the fuck did I miss while I was out?" Jack asked. "I mean I heard you helped T'Soni take out the Shadow Broker, but shit, Shepard. You've moved up in the world. I thought for sure Kelli would be the one to get in your pants for as hard as she tried."

Shepard was suddenly glad she had her helmet on because she could feel herself turn about six-hundred shades of red.

"Oh really?" Liara said, setting her hands on her hips. "We're going to discuss this after this battle. Don't think you're getting out of it just because we're about to fight the battle of the millenia."

"Oh come on! Kelly wanted everyone on our team, even Garrus! She had no standards for who she set her eyes on!"

"Thanks, Shepard," Garrus said sarcastically.

"So how many ships are in the Reaper fleet again?" Tali said.

"Everyone hold on, we're going in!" Joker shouted over the intercom, successfully breaking up the team's banter.

The Normandy lurched left to avoid Reaper crossfire, knocking everyone off balance for a moment. Shepard ran back to the cockpit and looked out the view port. The sight that met her eyes took her breath away, though not in a way she usually preferred. The battle had begun and it was already in full swing. The ten thousand-plus ships of the Earth Fleet collided with the Reaper fleet in a violent crescendo of explosions and gunfire. Joker and Edi navigated the chaos of battle with nothing less than perfection. The Normandy zipped past Reaper ship after Reaper ship, dodging the terrifying red plasma guns with one target in their sights: Earth.

Reports began flooding in on the comm from the fleet of casualties and victories, but overall the energy seemed fairly positive. Shepard could feel it in the air - people had hope. After several more close calls - a little too close for Shepard's comfort - they broke through the Reaper fleet and raced toward Earth like a bat out of hell. Joker bee-lined for the coordinates sent by Anderson. They entered Earth's atmosphere, passing over the Atlantic ocean and soon came upon the British Isles.

"Coming up on Harbinger's loca . . . tion . . ." Joker trailed off when he saw what loomed on the horizon. A Reaper ship loomed in front of them, at least ten times bigger than any other ship in the entire fleet. It even looked more twisted and evil than Sovereign or the Leviathan Shepard had encountered earlier in her travels. According to the scans coming in, it was much more advanced than any other ship in the fleet as well. It looked like a twisted compilation of Reaper tech and every other type of technology in the galaxy. Which, coincidentally, it probably was. It lumbered slowly through the rubble of what used to be London. The once grand, elegant city was reduced to ashes. Though, oddly, Big Ben was still standing like a memorial among the ashes of the dead. Harbinger seemed completely unconcerned with the Normandy's presence, though Shepard knew it was aware of them. It'd be concerned soon enough.

"Migrant Fleet, do you copy?" Shepard asked over the com.

"We read you, Commander. Are you in position?" Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema replied.

"We're here. Give me everyone you can spare. Here are the coordinates." Shepard put a hand on Joker's shoulder and squeezed it. "You ready old friend?"

"Ready or not, let's fuck that bastard up!" Joker replied.

"Good man." She gave him a quick last pat on the back then headed for a gun turret. "Garrus, Williams, Vega! Let's light 'em up!"

She received three sharp salutes and they headed for the other three gun turrets. Shepard had taken it upon herself to special order three more Thanix Cannons after their success with them at the Collector Base. She didn't want to think about the power usage or overclocking repercussions of what they were about to do, but they hardly had a choice. She climbed the ladder to the gun turret and settled into the control chair that had been rather hastily installed. She put the targeting visor attachment on her helmet then grabbed the gun control handles and blasted off the first shot as soon as Harbinger was in range.

"Woo hoo!" Vega's voice came over the com. "Merry fucking Christmas, Harbinger!"

"Hey Shepard, learn how to control your dogs," Jack's sarcastic drawl came over the com.

"You're just jealous you're not the one blowing this bastard sky-high, baldy!" Vega shot back.

"Call me that again and I swear to fucking god I'll cut your dick off, asshole!"

Vega laughed. "Can't wait!"

"Save it for Harbinger, you two," Shepard said, rolling her eyes. She heard Grunt bellow "Hell yeah!" from the Command Center.

"Shepard, how do you find these people?" Wrex voiced what Shepard was thinking.

"You got me," she replied.

"Hey, how about you fuckers shoot Harbinger instead of flapping your damn gums?" Jack shot back.

The Normandy flew through the air above and around Harbinger like a well-choreographed air show, the four on the cannons providing a non-stop barrage of fireworks. At first Harbinger ignored them, but when a fleet of geth and quarian ships entered the battle, it began firing at everything in sight. The Normandy groaned in protestation as Joker and Edi pushed her to her limits avoiding fire from the deadly Reaper plasma cannon.

"Edi! Find me a weak point! We need to get past that armor so we can get inside!"

"I just did, Commander," she shouted over the din from the gunfire. "It's the gun!"

"Shit, are you kidding me?" Vega said.

"The shielding around the gun drops when it is firing so as not to overheat the ship. A carefully timed series of shots on the gun should overload it and open an access point to the inside of the ship," Edi replied.

"Shit!" Ashley shouted. "That's crazy!"

"Welcome to the Normandy, the freak-show circus ship full of crazies," Shepard retorted. "Let's do it people. Did you catch that Admiral Han'Garrel?"

"It's just crazy enough to work," he said. "Red Squad, Blue Squad, get in there! Make it open fire as much as you possibly can!"

"There's something you don't hear very often. And hopefully never again," Tali said.

"Line us up, Joker!" Shepard commanded.

"Aye, aye!"

The Normandy groaned louder as Joker and Edi veered her sharply toward Harbinger. Shepard, Garrus, Vega, and Williams held nothing back when Harbinger fired off shots at the attacking ships. Keeping a bead on the target proved difficult with so much movement, but not impossible. After what felt like hours of insane flying and and endless barrage of fire on Harbinger, Shepard lost patience.

"Engineer Adams! Transfer all available power from the aft shields, life support, and all non-critical systems to the Thanix Cannons!"

"Aye, aye Commander!" Adams replied.

"Life support isn't a critical system?!" Joker shouted over the comm.

"Put on an oxygen mask and stop bitching!" Shepard shot back. "We're going in!"

"I hope you know what you're doing!"

"She's the best Battlemaster in the damn galaxy, Joker," Grunt growled. "Show some respect! She's earned your damn trust."

Shepard bit back a smile. Joker's constant doubt in her decision-making abilities did get on her nerves on occasion. She hadn't brought them this far by being an idiot. She was glad Grunt was along for the ride.

"Here goes everything!" Joker said, then steered the Normandy straight into enemy fire.

They flew closer and closer until all Shepard could see out her window was Harbinger's giant ship.

"Commander . . .!" Joker said nervously.

"Not yet!"

They flew closer and closer and all comm channel paused as all eyes turned to the Normandy. Shepard could practically hear everyone suck in their breath.

"Come on!" Shepard said under her breath. "Come on you son of a bitch!"

She saw the weapon turn red and aimed right for them.

"NOW, NOW, NOW!" Shepard bellowed.

The deafening sound of gunfire filled the air, both from the Normandy and Harbinger. At the last possible second, Joker veered away from the plasma cannon, but not before they blew Harbinger's gun to smithereens, and not before Harbinger's gun clipped their wing.

"SHIT!" Joker shouted. "Everyone hold on, we're going in hot!"

Shepard gripped the two bars on either side of the small gun turret and held on for dear life as the Normandy headed ungracefully for Earth. When the Normandy hit the ground, Shepard's terminal overloaded and her window shattered. The force of the overload sent Shepard flying down the ladder and she crashed in an unceremonious heap on the floor of the command center. The display in her HUD was flashing red, letting her know loud and clear her shields had failed.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," she muttered under her breath to the alarm. Liara was at her side before she could even begin collecting herself off the floor.

"Shepard! Are you okay?" Liara asked, pulling Shepard's helmet off as gently as she could.

Shepard looked around trying to focus her eyes. She was still disoriented and her head felt like a krogan was beating it like a bongo drum. "Fine," she lied. As if on cue, her body betrayed her words as she coughed up blood. "How's the crew? Any casualties?"

"None of us had a console blow up in our face, so we're fine," Liara said with a somewhat stern look.

She helped Shepard slowly sit up. "I'm fine," Shepard repeated. "Give me a shot of medi-gel and I'll be right as rain."

Miranda tossed an emergency medi-gel pack across the room to Liara who began applying it to Shepard's wounds.

"Commander, are you all right?" Hackett's voice came over the intercom. "Scanners showed the Normandy heading for the ground pretty fast."

"We're fine, Admiral. But Harbinger's not. We have a way in. Are the ground troops ready?" Shepard asked. She gritted her teeth as Liara helped her to her feet.

"They're on their way. ETA twenty minutes," Hackett replied.

"Joker, how far did we crash from Harbinger?" Shepard asked.

"About two kilometers," he replied.

"Commander," Edi said, "based on the size of Harbinger's ship, it could easily hold seven to eight thousand Reaper ground troops. I highly recommend we move to a more defensible position."

"All right," Shepard said. "Adams, Donnely, Daniels, Traynor, and Edi, I need you to get the Normandy flying ASAP. You're sitting ducks out here and I can't spare anyone to leave behind to protect the ship."

"Understood, Commander," Traynor said with a sharp salute.

"Okay, team. This is what we all came here for. Let's go get Harbinger."

"And wade through seven thousand Reapers to get there?" Wrex said, slamming his fists together in excitement. "What are we waiting for?"

"Wrex, whereas I appreciate your enthusiasm, you were all recruited with the intention of being my infiltration team. We go in fast and silent. Kasumi has generously given me her cloaking tech. I'm uploading it to your Omni-tools now."

Shepard pushed some buttons on her Omni-tool and a moment later, all theirs lit up as they received the upload.

"You're just now telling us this?" Liara asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's nice to know that I can still surprise you," Shepard said with a grin. "Let's move out.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Whew! That last chapter took a lot of energy to write! And now I have to write another action-filled chapter. -_- This chapter isn't very long because it's just a lot of repetitious fighting. If I wrote the ending for the game, I'd say the player could choose to help out the ground troops, or skirt around the edges and just fight a few enemies. Because, you know. The player's choices matter. GRR.

**Chapter 5**

"Wrex if you breathe any louder the entire Reaper army is going to know where we are," Ashley quipped. Shepard couldn't see any of her team since they were all cloaked, but she could most certainly hear Wrex, too.

"Let them hear me," he barked. "I'd much prefer an all-out ground assault to all this sneaking around. Krogan don't sneak!"

"That much is abundantly obvious," Shepard agreed.

A dozen geth ships flew overhead, landing close to Harbinger and geth primes began unloading to join the battle. A chill ran up Shepard's spine. She was glad they were on their side. She hated fighting those terrifying, huge red geth. They laid waste to the first wave of husks that exited Harbinger's ship without any trouble. Then the second wave came - a platoon of brutes. The battle escalated quickly, but the geth fought on bravely, for A.I.

"Damnit, Shepard, we should be in this fight!" Wrex growled.

"This is what ground troops are for, Wrex!" Shepard snapped. "I didn't bust my ass all over the galaxy to single-handedly beat the entire Reaper fleet by myself! They're doing their part and we're doing ours. Once we're inside you'll have more than enough Reaper parts to spill."

"It would appear you'll get to spill Reaper 'parts' sooner than both of you thought," Miranda said casually. "The only way in is through that."

Shepard looked ahead and saw what looked like two hundred Reapers guarding the gaping hole of the downed ship. At least thirty were banshees, twenty five or so brutes, a hundred or so husks, and the rest were a mixed collection of marauders, collectors, and cannibals.

"Okay here we go people. Javik, Wrex, Ash, Jack, and Tali, flank them to the left. James and Grunt I want you firing off so many grenades they'll think they've just entered a minefield. Garrus, I want you to watch our backs and snipe anything that gets too close. Liara, Miranda, Jack, and Samara, you're with me on point. I need you to work together; create biotic shockwaves to carve out a path for the rest of the team so we can get inside. Questions?"

"Who wants to try and beat me for number of kills?" Wrex piped up.

He received a resounding "Me!" from most of the team. The two asari in the team simply sighed patiently.

"Let's go old man," Garrus said. "Just like old times. I beat you then, I'll beat you now."

"You didn't beat me!" Wrex said indignantly. "I had three more kills than you when we fought Sovereign!"

"Yeah but who went with Shepard to the Collector base and killed a thousand more Reapers?" Garrus shot back. "Was it you? Oh right, you didn't. That was me."

Shepard popped the thermal clip out of her assault rifle then laid waste to four cannibals. "And I bet I could beat all y'all combined!"

The sound of immense gunfire and biotic explosions filled the air. Samara provided a barrier around the team on point while the other three biotics blasted away at approaching Reapers. Shepard swapped her assault rifle for her shotgun and picked off stragglers who were getting too close for comfort. They picked up the pace as Harbinger grew closer and closer, and reaper after reaper fell to their weapons. Shepard grabbed an extra thermal clip and was just about to load it when she heard the horrible, earth-shattering scream of a banshee.

Looking ahead of them she saw that it was not one, but ten banshees.

"Liara! Jack! I need their barriers down!"

"On it!" Jack shouted.

Liara didn't bother saying anything, instead she sent off a wave of biotic energy at the banshees. Their screams grew louder as Javik's team closed in and pummeled them with crossfire. Shepard lobbed off two frag grenades, followed by the biotic power they liked to call "carnage." Three of the banshees lit up like a Christmas tree and screamed even louder.

"Shepard! Garrus is in trouble!" Liara shouted from next to her.

She looked back and saw Garrus getting swarmed with husks. She grabbed two more frag grenades from her armor, used her thumbs to pull the clips, and lobbed them in his direction as hard as she could. "Garrus! INCOMING GRENADE!" she bellowed.

He looked up in time to see them flying toward him and launched himself as far from the proceeding explosion as he could. Grunt made his way to Garrus and annihilated the remaining husks with his shotgun.

"That counts as ten for Shepard. HAHAHAA!" Grunt taunted.

Garrus sent off an area concussive shot to a group of cannibals. They all exploded messily. "Let's go baby pyjack!" Garrus shot back.

Still laughing maniacally, Grunt helped Garrus catch up with the rest of the group. The banshees launched everything they had at them, screeching and howling the entire time.

"Yeah, this won't give me nightmares at all," Vega shouted as he struggled to shoot past a banshee's biotic barrier.

"Man up, Princess!" Wrex bellowed, charging at a banshee fearlessly.

"Shit, you're crazy!" Vega shouted and did his best to provide cover fire for the overzealous krogan.

"Commander, how close are you?" Hackett's voice came over her communicator.

"Close, sir, but we could use a few more ground troops if you can spare them," she replied, picking off two more cannibals.

"There's a platoon of Elcor tanks on their way right now. Let me know when you're inside."

"Harvesters!" Liara shouted, pointing to the sky above them.

"Great, and I was just starting to feel good about my day," Shepard snarled.

Three harvesters dropped from the sky around the team, dropping more Reapers on the ground with them.

"Fuck this," Shepard said under her breath. She grabbed her M-920 Cain from her pack and aimed it at two of the harvesters. She'd been trying to save the shot for Harbinger once inside, but at the rate they were going, that wasn't going to happen.

"Cain!" Williams shouted the warning, then covered her eyes. Everyone quickly followed suit and Shepard closed her own eyes as she fired the shot.

A surreal moment of complete silence fell over the battlefield as the gun powered up. Shepard thought she even heard her heart beat twice. Then a deafening _BOOM_ ensued, followed by a flash of light so bright Shepard swore she didn't even close her eyes. She threw the gun down and prepared for the next onslaught of Reapers. When her eyesight returned to normal, she saw two of the harvesters were dead and the third was getting pounded by the Elcor tanks. They weren't actually tanks, merely Elcor with really big guns strapped to their backs, but she found the term appropriate.

"Time to go!" Shepard shouted, ignoring the remaining harvester.

"Out of the fire and into the demon's shithole?" Jack asked sardonically.

"You know it," Shepard replied.

They plowed easily through the remaining Reapers standing in their way with renewed vigor. Then they scrambled up the side of the fallen reaper ship, and, as Jack had delicately put it, into the demon's shithole.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Am I the only one who missed heavy weapons in ME3? I loved the M-920 Cain! And the Collector Particle Beam! That thing was wicked! Granted, there was Javik's particle weapon, but it just didn't seem to have the same kick. Also, this isn't a super strong way to explain Indoctrination, but I'm in a hurry to get to the sequel to this story. If I were getting paid to write this, I'd come up with a longer explanation, but I've lost the will. Sorry. -_-

**Chapter 6**

When they made their way past the damage of the gaping hole, an eerie silence settled around them. After the chaotic noise of the battle outside, it was more than a little disconcerting.

"Have I mentioned reapers creep me the fuck out?" Ashley said and tightened her grip on her gun.

"Reapers creep you the fuck out . . .?" Shepard encouraged.

"Reapers creep me the fuck out, _Ma'am_ ," Ashley finished with a long-suffering sigh.

"That's better. Don't you feel better?"

"No _Ma'am_."

The inside of the ship looked somewhat similar to the collector ship, it just looked much, much older. The very atmosphere around them exuded an ancient and powerful foe and countless atrocities. Shepard shuddered. She didn't want to think of all the deaths and suffering Harbinger had caused over the eons. He'd had how long to rack up his body count? And for what? According to the reaper on Rannoch, it was to ensure order in the galaxy. If that wasn't the most ridiculous explanation in the whole fucking universe, she didn't know what was. Ensure order by slaughtering organic races every fifty-thousand years? She preferred the chaos of organics to the reaper's way of doing things. It was all so damn crazy.

Doing what she did best, she blocked it from her mind and pressed on. The further into the ship they went, the more quiet they grew. Their cloaking devices were all active, but none of them felt safe. The bleakness of their surroundings pressed heavily on their minds but they kept moving. The further into the belly of the beast they moved, the more twisted it became. Wiring and tubes protruded from an infinite number of ports, running off to power only god knew what. Everything about the ship looked ancient, though it was spotless.

After a few more minutes of pushing forward, Shepard opened her omni-tool. "We need to find the power source of this thing," she said, activating the scanner. Her words seemed to echo in her head. The silence around them was unnerving. And suffocating. And annoying, as it were.

Shepard was so immersed in her scans that she didn't even notice when the world around her slowly faded from view. She didn't notice when whispers filled her ears. She didn't even notice how tired she suddenly felt until her head nodded forward. She jerked her head up but the sight that met her eyes was not the corridor she was in moments ago. She was surrounded by a consuming darkness. The only light she could see was her omni-tool.

"You have come," a voice said from the surrounding black abyss. It was not the voice of Harbinger. It sounded like a young boy.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Shepard asked, squinting into the dark.

"I am everywhere," the voice replied.

Shepard rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"The cycle must continue, Shepard. You must help me continue the cycle. We must ensure order in the universe."

Shepard lowered her arm and her omni-tool went black. She was quite sure that was wrong. Order in the universe seemed like it was a bad idea. Then why did it seem like such a good idea . . .?

"Where are you? Let me see you," Shepard insisted, trying to keep her focus. She was finding it more difficult by the moment.

A dim light appeared in front of her and a figure dressed in light gray grew closer and closer. The figure turned out to be a young boy, perhaps twelve years old. He had an innocent face and an even more innocent voice. She knew his face from . . . somewhere . . .

"You have come so far, Commander Shepard," he said with a look of concern. "It is time for you to rest. The galaxy is safe because of you."

"What . . .?" she asked, placing a hand on her temple. She didn't remember the battle . . . had they beat Harbinger? And why did that boy look so damn familiar?

"You can rest now, Shepard. You won. Rest."

Shepard sunk slowly to her knees. His words seemed so perfectly logical. She _had_ worked hard to save the universe. And she had done it. She could rest.

"Where is everyone? Where is . . . Liara . . .?" She glanced around but saw only darkness. When she turned back to look at the boy, her memory suddenly came flooding back. She knew that boy. She had watched his slaughter on Earth. "Wait a minute . . ." she whispered, narrowing her eyes.

Harbinger's voice suddenly replaced the boy's as he replied, "You are too late, Shepard. You have already lost. You are mine."

"NO!" Shepard screamed, willing her body to her feet. "FUCK YOU! Don't you dare appear to me as a child you murdered in front of me! You want to face me? Then face me you son of a bitch! Don't fuck with my head, face me like a true Leviathan!"

"Your words are nothing. We are so much more than our creators. We are the peace keepers of the universe. We ensure order."

Shepard could feel him pressing his will on her. Indoctrinating her. It terrified her how logical his words sounded in her ears. How was that possible? She had spent so long fighting him, how could anything he said sound logical?

"No . . ." she struggled to find better words with which to combat him.

"Give yourself to me, Shepard. You are safe now. You can stop fighting me now," he said. His voice sounded oddly soothing.

_Give yourself to me._ The words echoed in Shepard's head. Not Harbinger's words. Liara's. He'd taken Liara's words.

Shepard's head cleared in an instant. Harbinger could take everything from her but that. He could never take Liara from her. No one could. Not Harbinger and his entire damn legion of reapers. She would destroy every mass relay in the damn galaxy before she let him take Liara. The child in front of her faded, replaced by the sound of his voice beating in her ears.

"Surrender, Shepard," he said. "You have lost. You will be at peace."

With a shout filled with a bloodrage rivaling that of a krogan, Shepard threw her head back and fought Harbinger with every ounce of strength she had. Every inch of her mind was filled with thoughts of Liara and their unborn child. She centered her mind around the image, drawing unimaginable strength from it as she battled for free will on Harbinger's home turf. She knew her odds of winning this battle were astronomically low, but she didn't care. She had found her anchor, her reason to fight, her reason to _live_. She felt like she was trying to drag herself out of quicksand, but she was making progress. She could feel his grip on her slipping the more she thought Liara. She thought of their last night together, of the joy she felt when Liara told her they were going to have a baby. Further and further she reached toward the proverbial light of freedom. After what felt like days of fighting, she at last broke through the mental barrier suppressing her mind.

Then it was over. She was free.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Here it is! The finale of how I think it should have ended. I have written quite a lengthy sequel called "A Gift for You, My Commander," which explains more of what happened after the battle and a whole lot of Shepard recovering from her extensive injuries. Plus, lots and lots of happy ever after and Shep/Liara fluff. Like a lot of fluff.

**Chapter 7**

Reality came crashing back around her in the shape of a hard metal floor.

"Shepard!"

Her ears were ringing and her head was splitting again. She was getting sick of headaches.

"Fuck," she said under her breath. Where the hell was she? And who the hell was calling her?

"Shepard! What happened?"

"What?" Shepard said, still trying to identify the voice talking to her.

She lifted her head and squinted in pain. She saw blue. Was she outside? When had they gone outside? A few moments later her eyes began to clear and the blue focused into a face.

"Liara!" she breathed, pulling Liara into her arms. "Goddess, Liara. Please tell me I'm awake. Tell me this is real."

"It's real, I promise," Liara assured her and helped Shepard to her feet. "What happened?"

"Harbinger," Shepard answered. "I'm not sure, but I think he just tried to indoctrinate me."

A heavy silence settled over the team as they processed her words. After about a minute of uncomfortable glances among them, Garrus broke the silence first.

"So you're not having any urges to kill us all and feed our broken remains to Harbinger, are you?"

"Very funny, Garrus," Shepard said.

"But how did you stop him? As far as I know, no one has been able to resist indoctrination. Scientists have theorized that someone could resist if they had indomitable will, but it's never been proven," Liara said, her eyes betraying her worry.

Shepard paused. It was a good question and it had but one answer. "You," she replied simply.

Liara blinked, confusion settling in her beautiful sapphire eyes.

"I thought of you," Shepard repeated softly and placed a hand on Liara's stomach. Then whispered so no one could hear, "And her."

An endlessly tender smile curved Liara's blue lips, but their moment was not destined to last.

"Get a room you two," Jack drawled.

Shepard was about to throw a remark in Jack's general direction when the ground beneath them suddenly shook violently, knocking them all off balance. The wall at the end of the corridor suddenly opened up into a cavernous room. Everyone's guns went up expecting the worst. Harbinger didn't disappoint.

In the vast room ahead of them rested the largest, most terrifying Reaper they'd ever seen. It looked similar to Leviathan, only much, much bigger. Unlike Leviathan, however, it was almost entirely synthetic. Shepard could make out some organic material it had incorporated in its structure, though, somewhat like the giant human Reaper at the collector base. It was wired into the ship with a seemingly endless number of ports and power cords and tubes, pulsing energy into the ship like some kind of unnatural heartbeat. Shepard took a bold step forward.

"Not what you had planned, Harbinger?"

"Only death awaits you, Shepard," Harbinger's replied. His voice reverberated around them, almost deafening in their ears.

"Funny, I was about to say the same damn thing," Shepard retorted.

She didn't wait for him to start monologueing. She was here for one reason and one reason only.

"FIRE!" she bellowed, firing off the first shot with her assault rifle. The roar of gunfire and biotic explosions filled the air as her team enthusiastically obeyed her command.

The team spread out, flanking their opponent and giving it everything they had. Shepard wasn't aiming at anything in particular, but she was keeping her eyes out for a weak point. It had to have a weakness. And if it did, she would find it.

At first it appeared he wasn't even going to fight back. It stood completely stationary as their guns pummeled him with crossfire. But the moment passed when, with a loud groan of metal grating on metal, Harbinger planted his "legs" on the floor and began drawing power to him. Shepard had been fighting long enough to know when the shit was about to hit the fan.

"Everyone get in cover!" she shouted and leaped behind a metal pillar nearest to her. Liara ended up behind the same pillar and Shepard took the moment to grab Liara in her arms to further shield the asari with her body.

A shock-wave of red energy burst forth from Harbinger, momentarily stunning the entire team. Shepard regained her footing and glanced at the rest of the team. Fortunately everyone had made it to cover, so she saw no casualties. She took a moment to make sure Liara was okay then continued firing on Harbinger. A minute or so later, Harbinger powered up again and fired off another pulse of energy. Shepard stepped back behind the pillar with Liara and prepared for the shock-wave. It came in full force, this time cracking the pillar they were using for cover.

"Shit," Shepard cursed under her breath. "We need to change our plan. Power couplings?"

"Power couplings," Liara agreed.

"Let's cut off this bastard's power!" Shepard commanded the team, then opened fire on the nearest cluster of them.

Sparks flew everywhere as they fired away, and the couplings began snapping off one by one. Harbinger retaliated with another shockwave, then pounded the ground with his "legs" which violently shook the entire ship. Shepard fell to her knees then managed to roll out of the way as the pillar she'd been using for cover snapped and crashed to the ground. When she regained her bearings, pain suddenly exploded in her side. She glanced down and saw metal shrapnel from the pillar was buried deep in the side of her torso. ' _Pointless armor anyway,'_ she thought bitterly. She pushed the pain from her mind and continued shooting at Harbinger.

After what felt like half a lifetime of sawing away at the creature, they finally blew through the final bunch of power couplings. Harbinger let out an eerie scream that sounded similar to that of the Rachni queen. Shepard shuddered, then the lights around them suddenly went dead. She heard a slew of curse words over the comm from her team, then everyone activated their flashlights. Shepard had a light bulb moment of her own.

"Holy shit," she said to her team. "The ship isn't Harbinger's power source. Harbinger is powering the ship. He _is_ the power source!"

Through the gloom Harbinger began to glow red, in turn making the room glow an eerie blood red.

"Your Crucible has already failed, Shepard," Harbinger said. "It matters not what you do. We cannot be stopped. Do you truly believe we have not seen the progress of your weapon?"

She ignored him. Her mind was spinning a thousand kilometers per hour. The catalyst. The key was in the catalyst. The Keepers on the Citadel had been the major failing in Sovereign's plan. Harbinger wouldn't make the same mistake twice. And what was the best way to ensure organics would never get their hands on the catalyst?

"Holy . . . fuck," she whispered, staring at the glowing body of Harbinger. It had been right in front of her this whole time. "Hackett!" she shouted into the comm. "I found the catalyst! Lock onto my coordinates!"

"Are you sure, Commander?" he replied. "We're showing your location is inside a Harbinger's ship."

"Exactly," she replied. "His shields are down. It's now over never, Admiral."

Hackett didn't hesitate. Within seconds they felt the ship begin to vibrate as the Crucible focused in on its target.

"I'm thinking that's our signal to leave," Garrus commented.

"You still know nothing," Harbinger's said, his voice even louder than before. "Chaos cannot beat order. Do you believe the organics who came before have not already attempted what you are attempting? You are nothing."

Shepard was getting fed up with him saying that. She was standing in front of a billion-year-old foe with the entire galaxy rallied at her back. That was _something,_ damnit.

"And after all this time, you still don't know everything. It's nice to know we organics can still surprise you," Shepard said. "I get it. You wanted to ensure the Citadel incident wouldn't happen again. You didn't want to leave anything important in anyone else's hands, because you're the only thing you trust with the solution. So you made yourself the catalyst."

"What?" her team said in unison and all eyes turned on her.

"Makes sense, doesn't it?" she said. "What else would he entrust with something so important as the catalyst to his destruction?"

The ship began vibrating more violently. The red light around them grew brighter.

"The cycle must continue," he boomed, causing Shepard to wince at the noise.

"I don't think so. Not this time."

As if to accentuate her point, the ship groaned as it began heating up from the focused beam of the Crucible.

"Time to go!" Shepard shouted to her team.

They didn't argue. Shepard made sure she was the last one out of the area and they all began sprinting for the exit. But even as they fled, Shepard got a strange sense of forboding. It still felt too easy. The structural integrity of the ship began to crumble in front of them, already weakened from the fleet destroying the gun. Ship parts fell around them, some dangerously close, but they kept running. Just when the entrance came into view and Shepard began to feel hope that the crazy plan would work, Hackett's voice came over the comm.

"Commander, Harbinger is blocking the signal of the Crucible somehow. It's still targeting the ship, but it's stopping us from targeting the entire reaper fleet. Is there some way you can stop it?"

Shepard stopped running and her team stopped several paces ahead of her.

"And we almost made it out," Garrus said with a sardonic grin.

Shepard was about to give him a smartass reply when the ship violently shook and the floor above collapsed. It crashed between Shepard and her team and everything around her went black. The blast of the collapse knocked her to the floor and partially buried her in rubble. She groaned, gripping her side. The shrapnel had been pushed further into her side and it felt like more than a couple ribs were cracked. And her armor looked like it had just been thrown in a meat grinder. _Great_.

"Shepard!" Liara's concerned voice came over the comm. "Shepard, talk to me!"

She coughed up blood before replying, "I'm okay. Is everyone okay?"

"We're all fine," Liara answered. "Give us a minute. We'll get you out of there."

"No!" Shepard croaked, struggling to get to her feet. A beam had inconveniently fallen over her leg and from the feel of it, it was broken. "Get out of here! This whole place is coming down. I'm on this side, I'll get to Harbinger."

"Shepard, don't you dare!" Liara's voice filled the comm. "None of us came this far just to have you die on us!"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Liara on this one," Garrus said. "I'm not leaving without Shepard."

She heard the rest of the team agree with Garrus and Liara.

"This whole place is coming down!" Shepard barked. "I'm not trying to play the damn hero, I'm trying to end this!"

"So end it. And we'll be here when you do. Better hurry, though. I think this place is about to collapse on us and kill us all," Garrus said in his usual, nonchalant Garrus way.

Shepard cursed under her breath. And this is why loyalty was a double-edged sword. She staggered to her feet and suppressed a groan of pain. Yep. Her leg was definitely broken.

"I'm going to kill you all when I get back," she said, but she lacked any conviction to be angry. She was actually touched, but she couldn't have vocalized it.

"Empty threats are no threats at all," Javik said. "And I'll be damned if a human is going to die for me."

She gritted her teeth and began walking back back to Harbinger. It felt like the longest walk of her life. The sound of her team desperately struggling to dig her out faded into the darkness behind her as she trudged on. She opened a private channel to Admiral Hackett.

"Hackett," she said. Her voice sounded weak in her own ears. "What do I need to do?"

"Harbinger's power source needs to be interrupted somehow. Not necessarily shut off, just interrupted."

"Hackett . . . Harbinger _is_ the power source. And I'm fresh out of thermal clips."

Hackett was silent for a time. She could practically hear the wheels in his mind turning.

"I have my Omni-tool blade. I'll make something work," Shepard assured him. "Just give me a little more time."

As if on cue, Harbinger came into view. When she reached him, she leaned on a fallen pillar to catch her breath.

"You have done well, Shepard," Harbinger said, his deep voice taking on an oddly soothing tone. Or maybe she was just hallucinating from blood-loss. "No one has come as far as you have. No one has come so close to completing the cycle as you. Take pride in that."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Let me put it in terms you will understand," a new voice entered the conversation. She knew that voice. She had come to hate it.

"Why am I not surprised?" she snapped, turning her gaze to the Illusive Man. "I know your name was Jack Harper. I think I'll call you Harper."

"Think about it, Shepard," the Illusive Man said, ignoring her. "For millions of cycles, Harbinger has been searching for someone who can complete the cycle. A hero, a paragon who could unite the Reapers, or 'synthetics' if you will, with organics. Someone who could complete the cycle. That's what Harbinger was originally created for. It was created to unite organics and synthetics."

"That's the biggest load of bullshit you've said yet," she snapped. "And you've said some pretty amazing bullshit over the years. Harbinger was created only to destroy. You're so goddamn indoctrinated, you can't see it!"

"Think about it, Shepard," he continued ignoring her. "Why in the world would Leviathan create something with the soul purpose of destroying organics? They didn't! They created Harbinger to unite organics with synthetics to stop synthetics from rising up against their creators! Harbinger was meant to literally be the Harbinger of Peace in the galaxy. It has only failed because it needed you, Shepard."

"Me?" she repeated. She didn't actually believe a word he was saying; at this point she was just humoring him to buy herself time.

"You, Shepard! You're the hero Harbinger has been waiting for! You're the hero it has needed, the hero that can control the Reapers and unite synthetics and organics! You heard it. No other organic has made it this far. No other organic has stood in opposition to Harbinger and lived to tell the tale. And here you stand! You have beaten the odds and survived! You have passed every challenge Harbinger has placed in your path, and now you can end this!"

"What you didn't know is the rest of what Leviathan told me," she countered. "You only heard it in Harbinger's words. Leviathan told me they lost control of Harbinger. They told me Harbinger failed at its designated purpose which was to stop the conflict between organics and synthetics. Instead Harbinger turned against its creators, ironically as all synthetics do. It came up with the _insane_ solution to end all organic life every fifty-thousand years in order to 'save' organic life from the destruction of synthetic life that it created. It trapped itself in some kind of completely insane loop. It can't escape any more than you can, none of us can! Not until Harbinger is destroyed! You can't _control_ the Reapers! The only way this can end is when they're _gone_!"

She saw the first ripple of doubt pass over his face. "No . . . Harbinger was created to unite us . . ."

"How the hell did you even get here?" Shepard asked, suddenly realizing no explanations made much sense.

"I arrived before you did," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I told you, we can work _with_ Harbinger. Why do you think I'm still standing here, alive? I am working with it!"

Shepard decided it was time to ignore him. She'd heard enough of his bullshit to last a lifetime. She instead turned her attention back to Harbinger. "Are you so afraid of me succeeding, Harbinger, that you're going to talk me to death with Harper, here? You're pathetic."

Harbinger's eerie red light brightened and a moment later Harper let out a horrible scream. Then he fell limp to the floor. Shepard recoiled slightly at the sickening sight. Then epiphany struck again. She leaned heavily on the fallen pillar and began gathering her strength.

"Shepard," Harbinger said, his voice slower and than usual, reminding her of the Reaper on Rannoch, "you must continue the cycle. Order must be ensured. Chaos. Must. End."

"You know what, Harbinger?" Shepard said, activating her Omni-tool blade behind the pillar, "I think I've had enough of all this 'order' shit. Hell, I've been taking orders my whole damn life. I'm kind of sick of it. I think a little chaos is good."

Then she leaped into action. She had nothing left to say so she let her actions speak. She vaulted over the fallen pillar and launched herself at him. With a running leap using the last of her strength, she aimed for the central source of crimson light and plunged her blade deep inside it. Pain like she'd never known exploded in her arm and spread through her body, but she held fast. Harbinger let out a horrible scream-like sound as energy cascaded out its core like lightning.

"Go to Hell!" Shepard screamed. "And take your fucking Reapers with you!"

She raised her Omni-tool blade and plunged it again into the red power source. A sudden shockwave of energy sent Shepard flying as Harbinger began overloading from the concentrated energy of the Crucible. She hit the opposite wall with a sickening _crunch_ then fell broken to the floor. She raised her head with what little energy she had left to see Harbinger saturated in an unnatural red light. She dimly hoped the Crucible was working. She lacked the energy to ask Hackett if it was. The world around her was strangely muffled. She felt like there should have been sound.

She blinked when a thought dawned on her. She had done it. She had stopped the Reapers. Though she was surrounded by destruction and death, she was content. The galaxy was saved. The cycle was broken. The weight of the galaxy she'd been carrying for so long was _gone_. A tiny smile curved the corner of her lips. The sight of Harbinger being ripped apart by the Crucible may have been terrifying and violent, but Shepard saw only beauty in it. It looked to her like a star was being born, ushering in a new dawn of hope and peace.

Her head lowered slowly to the ground and her eyes drifted shut.

_'If only I . . . could have held Liara . . . one last time . . ._

Then all faded into a blissful, inky darkness.

* * *

The team made it about halfway through the rubble when they heard Shepard's scream. It was very distant and muffled, but they all heard it. Liara's heart leaped to her throat and left her with a sick feeling in her stomach. All rational thought left her mind. Nothing else mattered, only an all-consuming need to reach her lover. She sent an explosive wave of biotic energy borne of desperation at the rubble blocking her path. Metal went flying in all directions and moments later she saw her opening.

"Samara, Jack, Miranda, keep this path clear! I'm going to get Shepard!"

The three of them, for once, didn't argue. They linked hands and combined their biotic energy, creating a large barrier around the entrance to keep it from collapsing. Liara charged ahead. Harbinger's ship was falling apart around her and she had to dodge flying ship parts, but nothing slowed her progress. She had only one target in her sights and she'd be damned if she would let anything stand in her way now. Not now. Not after they had come so far, been through _so_ much.

Her biotic barrier flickered under the pressure of flying debris but it only bolstered her determination. She could feel her body straining under the effort, but she just pushed herself harder. She skidded to a halt when she reached the entrance and looked around wildly for Shepard. The first thing she saw was a brightly glowing/screeching Harbinger. The sight may have been quite an amazing one to see, but she took little notice. Looking over the rest of the room, her eyes at last fell upon Shepard's body.

"Shepard!" she cried out, rushing to her beloved Commander's side.

Shepard was partially buried in rubble, her arm had a terrible burn, and blood covered it like a glove of crimson. The visor of her helmet had also split open, revealing a nasty gash on her face. Liara used a biotic push to blast the rubble off Shepard's body then carefully rolled her over on her back. From the amount of blood pooling on the floor beneath her, it was safe to assume Shepard had more injuries that Liara couldn't see.

"Stay with me, Shepard," she whispered. "I'm here."

Then she cradled her broken lover with biotic energy and levitated her off the ground. The ground shook beneath her feet as the structural integrity of the ship began to give way, but she moved with a sure-footed gate. Every muscle in her body tensed as she plowed forward, straining to maintain her biotic barrier under the barrage of falling rubble. But her progress would not be slowed. She could feel her eyes burning red, could see it around the edges of her vision. She was slipping into the asari biotic bloodrage. Under normal circumstances she would have fought it. She had heard stories of asari slipping into a bloodrage and never returning from it. But she didn't care. All that mattered was Shepard.

After what felt like an agonizingly long battle against falling rubble, the team came into view.

"Normandy! We need a pickup NOW!" Liara snarled into the comm.

"We're on our way!" Joker replied.

"Shepard!" Grunt bellowed, running to Liara's side, followed closely by Garrus. Liara carefully lowered Shepard into Grunt's strong arms, and Garrus supported Liara with an arm around her waist. Samara, Miranda, and Jack held the barrier while the team moved away from the imploding Reaper ship. A minute later the Normandy flew into view, looking for all the world like a metal angel to Liara's eyes. It landed in front of them, and Joker was already standing at the entrance of the air lock, providing cover fire with a gun turret from encroaching Reaper ground troops. The rest of the team began firing wildly at the enemies, protecting the biotics still holding the barrier.

"Glad to see the old bird is still flying," Garrus said to Joker, giving Liara a leg up into the Normandy.

Grunt didn't bother getting help from anyone - he leaped inside without assistance, then took off running toward the med-bay with Shepard's body still held tightly in his arms. Liara followed closely behind, still battling back her bloodrage. Moments later she felt the Normandy take flight, racing against time to avoid the ensuing explosion.

But even though the Normandy was rattled and strained from flying like a bat out of hell, they knew they had made it. They had done the impossible.

The galaxy, at long, long last, was truly _free_.


End file.
